The Dragon's Fairy
by gaybaconprincess
Summary: [Mythical AU JeriKyd] Joseph had run away from the cavern and his people - but he finds refuge in a seemingly terrifying dragon. What happens when said dragon is convinced he has a 'disease' - love?
1. Hunters

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. Hi, guess who's finally back! Yeah, I lost muse to write for a while but the combination of my weird dreams and otp prompts helped me get it back! I had a weird dream about like mythical Joey and Kyd and this happened? Kyd is now a dragon shapeshifter and Joey is a human sized fairy. Oops.]

Joseph ran as fast as he could through the thick woods he called home. He shut his eyes and tried his hardest to block out tears as he heard the chaotic noise that was a crowd of hunters chasing him for his wings.

A few days ago, he had been hanging out with his other friends at the beach when Kole spotted something ominous. A huge, terrifying black and purple dragon with evil red eyes was washed up on the shore of the beach. Kole refused to even go near it, but as Joey got closer he noticed that the terrifying beast was left helpless and pitiful looking while one of its majestic wings was trapped underneath a boulder. It was going to lay here and die if Joseph didn't do something.

Although it took the smaller boy almost a full hour, he finally managed to release the beast who gave Joey a quick look of confusion before bolting into the sky at an amazing speed. When Joey arrived back at the beach, Kole and Malcolm were appalled at what he'd done. How dare he let the dragon go free? He should have killed it! After all, fairies and dragons had always been mortal enemies.

Soon enough, word spread back at the cavern to the other fairfolk of what Joseph had done. There was huge argument between Joseph and the Council, who sought to punish Joey for doing what he thought was right. Eventually, after Joey's telling off of the entire fairy population, Joseph made the decision to run away from the cavern and find somewhere else to live.

It was a rash decision of course, but the first few night on his own weren't so terrible. That is, until the fairy-hunting humans just outside the cavern found out. Soon enough Joey spent most of his night fleeing in terror from being chased endlessly through the forest. It was an easy escape most of the time, but this time he came too close and one of the hunters had managed to use a knife and cut his left wing. It wasn't so bad that it wouldn't heal, but it did hinder him from flying away and he knew very well he couldn't outrun them.

Joey came to a stop from his running when he ran into a tree and felt to the ground in a heap. This was it, he was going to be cut up and eaten, or sold for science, or even stuffed like an animal and mounted in some human museum. The large pack of humans slowly gathered around him as he curled in on himself, trying to ignore the flaming pain in his wing.

Just as what looked like the leader of the hunters crouched down and was holding his dagger up to strike Joseph, his eyes widen in terror and he stumbled back yelling in his human language. Soon all of the hunters looked like the very deer they hunted, stunned and ready to scream. Joseph looked up at them confused before realizing there was probably something behind him. Before he could turn around and see what monster was going to eat him, two large claws pounded the ground on both sides of him and he watched as a large seething dragon stood over him protectively. The same dragon he saved on the beach. The creature roared a terrible, guttural sound of anger at the frozen men whose hair were flying wildly due to the wind the roar created. The dragon leant down to their height, blowing a puff of smoke through it's nose right in their faces causing them to break from their trance and scream all the way back from where they came.

The dragon shook with breathy laughter before looking down at Joseph who was still awe struck from the whole event. After deciding he was alright, the dragon slowly turned around and started marching back to whatever hobble was home to it. As Joey saw a massive tail signal it's complete turnaround, he broke from his trance and half flew, half stumbled to the dragon.

"Knaht uoy os hcum! Od uoy evah a eman?...olleh? Era uoy gninetsil ot em?" said the small boy in his natural fairfolk language, struggling to keep up with the larger creature. He soon felt like an idiot when he remembered that dragons don't speak fairy, they speak human. He focused for a moment, trying to remember any of what Malcolm had yammered on about when he came back from a visit to the human's world.

"Tha...Thank you! Thank you so much for saving me! Do you have a name?" The fairy boy asked happily. The dragon simply continued trodding to who knows where, completely ignoring Joseph's attempts to communicate and hoping maybe he'd just fly home. Joseph frowned before running in the way of the dragon's path, finally capturing his attention.

"It's rude to ignore someone when they are trying to talk to you!" He yelled indignantly with his hands on his hips. The dragon rolled it's ruby eyes before they widened when it realized the fairy's left wing was clipped. No wonder the child had been roaming around the woods alone, he'd probably lost his way.

The dragon stared at the fairy for a few more seconds before nonchalantly picking Joseph up and laying him on its scaly back, continuing its path as usual. Joseph made a few angry noises as he was picked up, but just couldn't bring himself to fight back once he was on the dragon's back. It felt nice to (kind of) be tall for once, and the creature was awfully warm. Joseph hadn't been able to sleep in nearly two days, and it barely took him a minute to fall asleep on the guardian like creature, figuring he'd deal with his problems later.

When the fairy finally woke up from his long nap, he was more than confused. He was in a cave of some sort that was lit by scattered torches glowing blue and green fire, he was surrounded by gold and jewels and every shiny thing you could name. Before he could really explore, an impending female voice broke him of his thoughts.

"About time you finally woke up. So Kyd Wykkyd was telling the truth, a real fairy. He sure knows how to pick them I suppose…" came the condescending voice from the shadows of the cave.

"W-Who are you? Where am I? Where is the dragon?" The fairy asked nervously, ignoring the shaking in his legs.

"Oh calm down hun, I'm not gonna hurt you. And Kyddie had made sure that every creature here on Tundra knows you're not on the menu." Said the voice as it's owner finally stepped towards a still shaking Joseph.

A female only a few inches taller than him walked out of the shadows. She was most obviously a witch of some sort. She had striking pink hair and cat slit pink eyes, her attire screamed 'mess with me and I'll turn you into a frog'.

"If anything, you should be worrying about where Kyd is and apologizing to him. You gave the poor guy a heart attack when he couldn't figure out how to patch your wing up. I helped him through it of course." The witch said sharply.

"Wait," The boy finally replied, "Kyd Wykkyd...that...that's the dragon. Where is he?"

The girl merely shrugged before disappearing with a snap of her fingers, leaving Joseph more than a little uneasy. He quickly ran outside the cave, the bandaging around his wing still hindering his flight. He finally found the dragon, or Kyd Wykkyd, sitting on a ledge and looking completely sick with himself. Of course now he wasn't so much a dragon.

Joseph had heard fairy rumors of dragon's being shape shifters but this was incredible. Where was once a mighty, terrifying beast sat a lonely teenage boy who kept fiddling with his makeshift hair tie.

The boy was tall, obviously much taller than Joseph, and still had his ominous fangs. His hair was black and his skin was pale, his eyes ruby red like the dragon's. He had sharp, black nails that were almost claw like and his clothes were black and purple with strange markings over them much like the dragon's skin. He also seemed to keep the horns which protruded from his hair, and his whip like tail that flicked back and forth behind him like a feline's. He had pointed pale ears and his right one seemed to have a part that looked to be bitten off.

Deep down, Joseph knew this was a bad idea but he honestly didn't care anymore.

"Hey." He said to get the boy's attention as he sat beside him on the ledge. "Thank you...for everything. If you want to talk we can, you look really lost in thought." He said softly, as if not to scare the half reptile away.

'Kyd Wykkyd' hung his head for a few moments in what looked like half anguish and half anger before finally speaking to his new companion.

"This is your fault. This disease I seem to have." He said shortly and angrily. Before Joseph could puff up and retaliate however, Kyd interrupted him oh so rudely.

"I've never felt like this and now I have some stupid disease, and I'm going to die. When you helped me on the beach, I felt...weird. My stomach felt all light and I got really confused so I flew away. But until I found you again I kept feeling weird, but not in the good way like before. When I did find you I was happy for no reason - I've never felt happy before for anything but gold. And then when I brought you here and let you sleep...you...when I layed you down in my sleeping horde you made this face and smiled and my face started heating up more than usual. Not like a fever though...and I couldn't stop smiling…Jinx keeps telling me I have 'love', but I don't know what that is. This whole thing is your fault now fix it! I don't wanna feel...sad again. I don't wanna be sad and alone like I was before when you leave. I was fine until I met you so fix it stupid fairy!" The dragon rambled softly at first, finally yelling the last part angrily.

The fairy boy simply smiled at him before giggling cutely at the angry teen's expense, knowing that what he had wasn't any disease.

"Listen, you're going to be fine, you don't have a disease. And...I...If you'd be generous enough to let me stay...I don't think I am leaving. I ran away from the cavern and I don't think the woods will be welcoming me back anytime soon…" The fairy sighed sadly, unaware of how his sadness sent a pang through the other boy's usually stone heart.

"I'd...You can stay as long as you want. I just...don't want to feel sad again…" The boy mumbled in response.

"You…" Kyd said as he wrapped his arms around the other boy in what the humans called a 'hug'. "...you make me not sad. You make me...h...h-happy." Kyd said, almost spatting out the last word like it was some disgusting creature.

"I'm very glad that I can make you happy." Joseph responded, melting into the embrace. The strange boy smelt like ash and burning wood - but it was nice.

Kyd Wykkyd smiled the smallest smile you could ever see, hidden from the fairy boy 'Joseph' and maybe...just maybe he giggled a little.

[I'm hoping to turn this into a full story - I really like this idea! Hopefully I won't drop it like I have others. Reviews are wanted!]


	2. Flowers?

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story.]

Joseph woke up from the feeling of smoke seeming to blow his hair around. He ignored it for a time, until the smoke finally got to him and he woke up from violently coughing. Afterwards he was nearly given a heart attack by Kyd Wykkyd's face being centimeters from his.

"...hi…?" Joseph squeaked finally.

"I request that you remove yourself - I need to travel into Tundra today." Kyd Wykkyd said, clipped and monotone as always. Joseph gave him a very confused and still a little sleepy look before he realized that he was curled on top of a still human Kyd Wykkyd, apparently cuddling him.

"S-s-s-sorry!" Joseph shrieked as he sprung backwards, away from the trapped dragon.

"It is alright. You are...nice. I am normally overheated at night, so your small cold body evens me out. It is nice." Kyd Wykkyd said, clipped and monotone, while brushing any dirt he had on his clothes off. He ruffled his hair one last time before stalking towards the still blushing and confused Joseph and looking down at him.

"Please do not touch any of my treasure and...please do not leave." Kyd said to the small boy, terrified that he would bolt as soon as the mean dragon was out of sight, still keeping all emotion out of his voice - especially fear.

"I must leave for the Oracle today, but I will be back before sunset." Kyd said finally, cupping Joseph's face very softly - which surprised Joseph. He leaned down and brought Joseph's face to look up as the dragon boy closed his eyes and nuzzled their foreheads together in a strange gesture, once again confusing Joseph.

Kyd Wykkyd abruptly left, and Joseph was still staring at the spot on the floor that Kyd stood long after the now dragon Kyd Wykkyd flew off from the cave.

"Strange…" was all he could muster as rubbed his forehead with his forearm.

Soon enough after finding the remnants of some blueberries for morning food, Joseph found himself sitting on the cave's cliff ledge and swinging his feet back and forth - pondering on his newfound friend.

He was strange - that much was obvious. But that was more because of cultural differences than anything Joseph guessed. He was also very shy and kind - it was just hard to tell because of his exterior. And fit. He was very...very fit. Joseph closed his eyes and wanted to kick himself in the gut. No no, don't remember Kyd's smile, don't remember Kyd's giggle. Stopstopstopstop.

Joseph snapped his eyes open and tried his hardest to stop his smile. This was wrong. A fairy and a dragon - unheard of. Then Joseph finally realized - he didn't care. Here there was no Council, there was no judging society, there was only Kyd Wykkyd.

Kyd Wykkyd...he didn't really know what a relationship was did he? He was even convinced love was a disease of some kind. Joseph spent a little while pondering this as well before something caught his eye. A small pod of flowers sat on a separate ledge from his. Did dragons like flowers? He'd find out.

As promised, Joseph's makeshift guardian arrived just before sunset, transforming and cracking his back painfully before not so gracefully flopping onto one of his many hordes.

"Kyd…? Kyd are you awake?" came the soft voice he'd been hearing in his slumbers for the past few nights.

Kyd Wykkyd easily glided down the large horde to his companion, frustrated with being disturbed already but joyful he was still present in the cave.

"I brought you these from one of the cliffs. I don't know if dragons like flowers...b-but it's a common tradition in the Cavern. We...we give flowers to people we...care about. I - Are you alright?" Joseph stuttered blushily before worriedly looking at his other.

Kyd Wykkyd was beet red and was spurting balls of smoke every which way. His nose blew smoke, along with his slightly ajar mouth. His entire face was a nice strawberry color, his shoulders hunched and his hair fluffed up slightly.

"Y-y-you...I...uhm…" Kyd Wykkyd stuttered, his fingers shaking. Joseph had never seen him so flustered in his life, did he do something wrong perhaps? Maybe flowers were a sign of distraught here?

"T-t-th-thank you very much!" Kyd yelled abruptly, snatching the bouquet away from the worried fairy and nuzzling his head again before bolting back up to place them on the very top of his horde. Joseph couldn't see, but he made sure to place them right where he could see them when he slept, and so that they wouldn't be crushed by his collection of other items.

Joseph gave a very confused hum in the direction of the horde, finally getting that the red faced dragon wasn't coming down. What did he do wrong?

"Wow, you two are so pathetic that it's actually cute." came the same condescending voice of witch-girl, as he'd nicknamed her. Seeing Joseph's still confused look, she complied by explaining a little more.

"Dragons do indeed see flowers the same way your fairfolk do, only much more in depth. To put it simply, you just asked Kyd Wykkyd if he'd like to be your boyfriend loverboy." Joseph once again could only tilt his head. It seemed most of the expressions he'd used since getting here only conveyed confusion.

"Right, right, fairfolk aren't up to date with human slang yet. You ah, you just asked him to be your mate, genius." Witch girl said dismissively, smirking at Joseph beet red face. He was shaking at the knees.

"I...I what?! I-I-I-" Joseph stuttered, heart dropping at how Kyd reacted. Kyd Wykkyd probably hates him!

"Ugh - you two are so incompetent! That's it." Witch girl said before causing a hex to appear at the floor under Joseph's feet, muttering a quick 'I'm doing this for him not you'.

Joseph appeared right above Kyd, scaring the wits out of him before holding his arms out to catch Joseph just before he fell on his butt.

Kyd Wykkyd held Joseph in his arms, as if he'd just saved a princess from a castle. Joseph felt much too okay with that feeling. Kyd on the other hand didn't get the similarity at all, and went right into getting into Joseph's personal space and inquiring to his safety.

"I'm fine, I'm fine! I ah...I...I'm sorry if I upset you with the flowers...I didn't mean to-" Joseph started off before being interrupted by Kyd pulling him close and snuggling himself into the crook of Joseph's neck. Really at this point, Joseph had given up trying to understand the dragon boy.

Kyd suddenly pulled away, searching rampantly through the gold surrounding them before beaming up at Joseph and placing a very poorly made flower crown onto his head. Kyd snuggled into his chest one more time before looking up at the fairy with a look of adoration and more than anything, determination.

"Mate." Kyd said reverently, blushing again before doing the same forehead-nuzzle gesture as before.

Jericho, at this point, really couldn't help himself but to giggle and whisper 'mate' back at him.

"You guys are frickin' gross!" Witch girl yelled from below the horde, to which Kyd responded by grabbing a golden object from behind him and throwing it in her general direction.

"Alright, alright, I'm going!" Witch girl yelled again, only narrowly avoiding being knocked in the head.

After the pair was sure she was gone, Kyd looked up at Joseph again before pouncing on him and cuddling him close. Joseph was fine with this, it was always very cold in the cave and Kyd Wykkyd was very warm. Joseph settled for petting Kyd's mussed hair as he listened to Kyd's sleepy breathing, more than aware of the dragon's clawed hands rubbing up and down his back, having snuck under his shirt.

[Reviews are welcome!]


	3. Blueberries Are One Hell of a Drug

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. hAVE SOME MORe DRAGON KYD. Its angsty at first but then fluffy don't worry.]

Things from then on ran much differently, Kyd Wykkyd learned to not be so stiff around Joseph, and Joseph learned that there was a reason for such stiffness.

Elliot was far from the only terrifying creature in Tundra. On the Isle of Monsters, where Joseph learned was just beyond the outskirts of Elliot's land, there lied many menacing and terrible creatures. The monsters that lied there had been sent there out of exile or trickery - they had committed crimes too horrible to speak of.

Elliot often spoke to Joseph of how while there were many vile creatures, and that Joseph was forbidden from ever leaving the cave without Elliot. It wasn't that he was being controlling, he was only worried for Joseph's well being. While Joseph wanted badly to explore this new land, he wouldn't dare run away with all of the monsters described to him by Elliot. A werewolf whose strength was only matched by his stupidity named Mammoth, an imp whose attitude was somehow terrible enough to rival Elliot's, a cyclops and a living doll who were Elliot's only true friends, and then of course their leader, Witch girl. Or Jinx, as Elliot had told him. Capable of summoning lightning and fire from the very Earth, laying siege and hex upon all who crossed her path. Her frailness was only matched by her power and intelligence.

One day, it seemed one of these monster had pissed Elliot off just a little too much. That in itself was a difficult task, considering how detached and nonchalant he was about everything that didn't involve Joseph. When he was angry though - really the smartest thing to do was run and hide. Dragons were known for their temper, and when they were angry they were capable of destroying entire civilizations with one foul breath. Joseph knew better though - he'd learned so much from Elliot and he knew that he didn't want to be a monster like everyone assumed he was.

So, when Elliot arrived back at the cave one midday seething in anger Joseph knew he had to do something.

Elliot barely gave himself time to transform before he hit the ground of the cave and tumbled. He stood up fiercely, his eyes burning like hateful brimstone and his muscles tightened in frustration. Elliot's body hadn't even fully transformed, he had his human shape but his pale skin was still purple and scaled like his dragon form, and the spiked lining his spine were still protruding from his shirt. He stalked over to one of the walls of the cave, angrily beating his fists into it and bloodying his knuckles to Joseph's worry. Every pound against the stone wall sent the entire cave and everything in it shaking from the force of Elliot's blows. Upon closer investigation, Elliot was seething - literally. Smoke was pouring in angry puffs from his open mouth that was bared as if he were showing off his fangs to another predator.

"Elliot! Elliot - please you're hurting yourself! Talk to me! Elliot stop!" Joseph cried helplessly as he tugged weakly on the back of Elliot's shirt. Elliot paid no mind to this, completely ignoring Joseph. Joseph beat his fists on Elliot's back, he pulled on Elliot's shirt until his own knuckles went white, but nothing worked.

"Elliot stop!" Joseph yelled one last time, running in between the wall and Elliot before hugging him tightly - Joseph barely even came up to Elliot's shoulder with this miniscule height. Elliot paused for a moment, the red in his vision flashing white before practically collapsing onto Joseph. Elliot growled for a moment, scaring the lights out of Joseph. Of course he loved Elliot, but he knew how unstable he could become when angry.

Elliot picked Joseph up and swiftly sped over to what was his designated horde, nearly crushing Joseph with the strength Elliot was hugging him. Elliot was still shaking from anger, but he seemed to calm more and more with every passing breath between the two. Elliot buried himself in the crook of Joseph's neck, breathing in his calming scent of flowers and spring wind as Joseph raked his hands through his hair and shushed him from his growling. Elliot held Joseph tight to his own body, pressing the side of his head to the left side of Joseph's chest forcefully. He was listening for Joseph's heartbeat, and when he found it it seemed to ease Elliot down more with every deep pump.

Elliot slowly eased out of his tantrum, nearly taking forty five minutes for his skin to go back to its pale white and his spine spikes to hide from his back. When Elliot did calm down, Joseph noticed he was still shaking, but instead of anger it was from tears that were now dampening Joseph's shirt.

"Shh, Elliot you're okay now. You're here with me, we're here together and we're happy." Joseph said softly into Elliot's pointed ears.

"I-I-I c-could've hur-hurt you…" Elliot sobbed openly into Joseph's embrace. Joseph sighed out of his nose softly and smiled a little - his big bad dragon was such a caring softie sometimes.

"But you didn't. Elliot I'm right here, I'm safe and warm and with you." Joseph continued, brushing his fingers through Elliot's scalp still.

"Elliot, look at me." Joseph demanded as he brought Elliot away from him to look into his eyes, ignoring that Elliot still held him like the moment he let go Joseph would fade away.

"What happened? What on Earth could've made you so angry Ellie?" Joseph said worriedly, breaking on the inside at the sight of the angry tears running down Elliot's cheek.

"I...R-Rouge...she said that...that if I didn't kill this person, this person she showed me...that she'd kill you. That she'd find you and kill you and-" Elliot spluttered as the tears multiplied at the thought of losing the one treasure he didn't _have_ to steal. The one piece of gold in his life that he couldn't live without - his beautiful princess that he had to keep safe.

"Elliot, I'm fine. I'm okay, and Rouge isn't here. It's gonna take a lot to kill me anyways, I can fly and everything." Joseph said jokingly, making Elliot crack a small smile in between the slowly drying tears.

"I'm right here." Joseph nearly whispered holding Elliot to his shoulder and nuzzling his forehead. He could practically feel the calmness slowly growing and radiating off of Elliot. His breathing evened, his heart slowed, and if Joseph didn't know better he'd say that Elliot was falling asleep. Joseph slowly pulled back for a moment, smiling at how cute Elliot looked as his eyes widened in fear of Joseph letting go, and kissed Elliot's forehead softly.

Elliot's eyes widened in amazement at what Joseph had just done, lighting up with that beautiful curiosity that always came when Joseph did - well, anything really.

"What…? ...Do that again. P-please." Elliot stuttered, trying very hard to sound demanding as Joseph almost giggled at his desperate looking face. Yet another cultural difference he supposed, Elliot apparently didn't know what a kiss was.

This time Joseph smiled warmly and placed a quick, soft peck to Elliot's chapped lips, Elliot eyes never closing and keeping that same curiously awed look as before. Elliot quietly whining at how short the contact was. Elliot's eyes lidded and he looked dazed, like he'd just been given a heavy dose of some unknown drug as he just started mumbling random words in Norsian Dragon.

"It's called a 'kiss'." Joseph said softly.

"I would...I would enjoy more 'kisses'...in the future…" Elliot mumbled as Joseph giggled.

"Well, you're welcome to as many as you'd-" Joseph started, but never finished. He also never expected Elliot to full on pounce on him, kissing him roughly. It was obvious that he'd never experienced a kiss before, but it was still very cute and endearing to Joseph. And then sparks really flew behind Elliot's closed eyes when he got Joseph to open his mouth.

Eventually Joseph began weakly pushing away, despite wanting badly to continue their heated...he wasn't even going to _try_ to describe it as anything other than a make out session.

They were both panting, Elliot smiling like a maniac with his split snake-like black tongue lolling halfway out of his mouth. His eyes were lidded and he really did look completely high off of the taste of Joseph. When Elliot attacked Joseph's abused lips yet again, something that Jinx had said to him once rang out loudly in his head.

" _Be careful with those you dunce! They may look tasty but those 'blueberries' you love so much have some nasty side effects!" Jinx shrilled as Joseph explained that blueberries were his favorite food and he ate some almost every day because they were lying around everywhere._

" _Look, y'know how the humans get when they find that weird plant that they worship and sacrifice? That's how blueberries are for dragons, they're really addictive - kinda like a drug but not as harmful." Jinx explained impatiently._

And then as Elliot sniffed the air for a moment and realized that Joseph had squished some of the blueberries on his neck when he was laying down, Joseph had never been more thankful for his food taste.

[Who doesn't love make out sessions right? Also, the plant that humans 'worship and sacrifice' that Jinx refers to is, indeed, weed. I imagine that Joseph carries blueberries with him everywhere now.]


	4. Magic

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. Okay but can we talk about how weak I am for dragon Kyd referring to Joey as his 'princess'? Also yAY for dumb jealous Kyd and flower obsessed Joey.]

Kyd Wykkyd and Joseph were both very different, that much they could except. This also led to many discoveries about each other. For example, once you entered the Isle of Monsters, you had to change your name in order to keep past records dead. Kyd Wykkyd used to be Elliot. And, as much as Joseph was embarrassed by it, right now the entire island was convinced that Joseph's new name was 'princess'. Joseph had also found that Elliot had a very, very unhealthy obsession with shiny objects. Whenever Joseph was alone, he'd usually find shiny buttons and coins all over the cave for him to find with an etched in heart beside them on the ground.

Elliot didn't understand Joseph and _his_ unhealthy obsession with not-shiny things. Shiny things were pretty, they were nice to look at, and they were easy to use as possible weapons. Flowers were not. Flowers were dull, they weren't striking in any way, and completely redundant when needing to defend yourself.

Which is the reason why Elliot had been glaring at the spot that Joseph sat, just outside the cave, collecting flowers into his hands. Joseph's love for the flora around the cave had made Elliot learn to hate the very flowers used to spark their relationship.

How dare they? What on earth did his princess see in the stupid plants? Why did he always spend so much time and attention on them while Elliot sat on the cold cave floor consumed in righteous anger?

Yes, righteous anger. There was no possible way that Elliot was jealous.

Joseph himself looked dazzling, as always, despite the ugly plants littering his surroundings. Joseph had given up trying to fit all of the flowers into his hands, and instead settled for holding part of his skirt like tunic out to place the flowers in like a basket. Joseph had spent the last hour just weaving flower crowns, admiring the flowers, and attempting to place some in Elliot's hair. (Keyword attempt)

And then Elliot sparked a lovely idea.

"Joseph!" Elliot called impendingly from where he had seemingly teleported behind Joseph. As Joseph looked up, he couldn't believe what he was looking at.

Elliot the evil, Elliot the menacing, Elliot the killer of men and plunderer of entire villages, was wearing a terribly constructed crown of daffodils and columbines. His horns stuck up out of the crown, contrasting strangely with the soft flowers, along with his hair that splayed out like weaponized spikes. He was carrying a large array of multicolored flowers, most of them white, gold, or purple, and the arrangement of flora took up both of his arms. And Elliot, well - he looked completely ridiculous.

"Love me." Elliot demanded in the most serious voice Joseph had ever heard. That line is what broke the hump beast's back for him. (Elliot still couldn't wrap his head around Joseph's weird wordplay. What on Earth was a camel?)

Joseph burst out laughing, nearly crying from the sight of his dark boyfriend covered in flowers, pouting angrily, and demanding over and over again 'why won't you love me?'.

"y-you're...You're so cu-cute babe!" Joseph somehow managed between boisterous laughter and eventually falling flat on his back in giggles.

"Cute? Cute! I am not cute! I am death! I am darkness! I am fire! I am the night! I am-" Elliot boomed indignantly.

"Covered in flowers and booming about your how needy you are. Also, wearing the worst flower crown I've ever seen." Joseph interrupted rudely, finally having calmed down from his laughing fit.

"Why do you love these weeds so much more than me? Am I no longer worthy of your affection? Have I done something wrong?" Elliot asked dumbly, still pouting slightly before Joseph sat him down on the ground next to him, cross legged.

"Oh Ellie, of course I still love you. If you wanted attention you should've just said something! It's just...these 'weeds' are like…" Joseph said slowly, contemplating as he plucked a bright indigo flower from the near bush in Elliot's arms, placing it behind his ear.

"...they're like _my_ gold." Joseph said finally. Elliot understood now! He was still sure that gold was much more important than weeds, but at least now he knew that Joseph would still love him more than he loved the flowers.

"You said to ask if I requested attention yes? I request it. I miss kisses." Elliot said choppily as Joseph giggled and smoothed down Elliot's messy hair again.

Joseph took the massive flower collection away from Elliot's arms and set them next to him, setting himself in Elliot's lap as he wrapped his arms around Elliot and covered his cheek in kisses as asked. Elliot wrapped his arms around Joseph's small waist, chuckling stupidly and almost purring with delight.

When Joseph had finally stopped to pluck a handful of the flowers away from Elliot's gathering, Elliot looked down very hurtfully before Joseph took his large hands and moved them with his. Joseph was teaching Elliot how to make a proper flower crown, and even though Elliot was still sure it was stupid, he couldn't dare stop it from the feeling of Joseph's much smaller, warmer hands guiding his.

They stayed like that for a while, Joseph guiding Elliot's hands and Elliot purring warmly into the crook of Joseph's neck. When they were done, Joseph would place the current flower crown either on Elliot's head or around his neck depending on how long it was. Elliot was content enough, and then he saw why there seemed to be a never ending supply of the flowers in his home.

Elliot was completely transfixed, hypnotized, by the glowing green energy coming from Joseph's hands. Joseph did a few strange looking hand motions, the green light seeming to form some sort of symbol before Joseph brought his forefinger and his mid finger to his mouth, kissing them lightly before softly touching the ground. Out of the ground burst a similar but much stronger green light which sprouted a small purple bud that quickly bloomed and exploded into a full fledged flower. Elliot let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding when Joseph softly pet the petals of the new plant, smiling knowingly as two more buds sprouted in unison next to the flower.

Then he watched as Joseph did it yet again, replacing every flower that he stole from the area kindly. As he lifted his fingers to his lips again, Elliot abruptly caught his wrist and brought the fingers to his own lips, kissing Joseph's hand reverently before placing it on the ground for him. Where the green light should've exploded, there was a dull moment of nothingness where Elliot had thought he'd messed it up for Joseph and was only annoying him.

Only a second later however, an even brighter, beautiful light exploded to shine high above either of their heads, a striking green mingling and confusing itself with an eerie dark indigo as the two boys gasped at the sight. From where the light dissipated a beautiful black and white flower bloomed, it's middle a striking, almost glittering gold. As Joseph reached out to pluck it, an identical flower bloomed in its place.

"Everlasting…" Joseph mumbled in his daze as he stared at the flower. And as Elliot tilted his head questioningly at Joseph, he named the new discovery.

"Everlast. It's name is the Everlast." Joseph said in finality.

[Reviews are welcome! Also I know my plan for the next chapter, but after that it's kinda up in the air? If you have any requests for fairy Jericho and his pet dragon to go through with I'd be very appreciative of you sending them!]


	5. Savior of the Isle

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. I got over some of my 'what am I even doing after this chapter' nonsense! Also yes Joey-villain friendships for the win.]

It'd been quite some time that Joseph and Elliot lived together, always learning about one another. Joseph's wings had healed finally, and Elliot was always extremely careful not to touch them lest he rip them with his claws. After all this time, Elliot made a very hesitant decision.

After Joseph begged and pleaded and even bribed, Elliot agreed that he'd allow Joseph to travel with him into the Isle. Besides the deathly fear that was buzzing through Elliot's brain about how terrible an idea this was, it also piqued his interest. Joseph had always had this gift of taking something terrible and broken, and always finding the good side of it - making it better. Elliot wondered if Joseph would have the same effect on the rest of the island as he'd had on Elliot, and if he did then maybe life here wouldn't always be so terrible.

"So what's on the agenda today?" Joseph asked brightly as they continued their long walk into the woods. They were attempting to make it into a clearing without painting a target on their backs, which is why neither were flying. The clearing they were headed to held something that Elliot had said was very important to him, and that's all Joseph really needed to know.

"Walking." Elliot responded monotonously, contrasting strangely to Joseph's always chipper mood.

"With a side of…?" Joseph continued hopefully.

"Walking." Elliot said again, even more deadpan this time.

Joseph rolled his eyes, still not understanding why they couldn't just fly there instead. It was easier, and it seemed right now that all the monsters were hidden away sleeping. That, or they were all too fearful of Elliot to come out and approach them.

"Right. So if we take this crossway into- Joseph…? Joseph?" Elliot said in a panic before realizing that Joseph was slowly approaching a cave. Oh god - not that cave. He was going to get himself killed!

"Joseph! What are you doing? Get back here, you're going to get yourself hurt!" Elliot whisper yelled from his spot where he was frozen. Joseph simply waved his hand dismissively at his dragon guardian, still approaching the noise that drew him to the cave.

Someone was sobbing, and upon closer inspection, it was over an old monochrome family photograph. Joseph reached out to pet the fur on the much larger, meaner looking werewolf who was still hunched over the square picture, only for the creature to stand to its full height. The werewolf's stench of bile and rotted meat rolled off of him in waves, still not affecting Joseph. The werewolf stood to be the height of nearly three Joseph's, and held his claws out growling like he was about to eat Joseph whole.

"I miss my family too. I'm sorry for your loss." Joseph said softly, with the same sad look on his face which was void of fear. The werewolf stopped at that, growling softly in confusion with his claws still outstretched from being frozen in place.

"Aren't you...afraid of me?" The wolf hybrid asked softly, tilting his head. He was met with silence before the fairy boy finally spoke.

"Why did they send you to the Isle?" Joseph asked as he sat down, cross legged from the beast who soon sat down with him.

"I asked." The monster grumbled angrily. It took some time, and a few minutes of Joseph just petting the fur on his arms, but the creature finally explained.

"My family...my friends...they weren't safe around me anymore. I'm a monster. I have claws, and fangs, and fur! Everywhere I went, if I got just a little bit angry, I'd destroy things and eat people without meaning to. I'd black out and when I woke up I was covered in blood and surrounded by destroyed buildings. I'm-" The creature said somberly before being interrupted by Joseph, who laid a small hand atop the creature's bowing head to halt his speech.

"Misunderstood. You're not a monster, you were only trying to protect them. Claws, fangs, fur, it doesn't make you a monster. The things you do make you one. The whole world told you you couldn't be anything but a monster, and you believed them, so that's what you became." Joseph said to the beast who was awed by this strange, wise, intelligent boy.

"What is your name?" Joseph asked finally, after the creature had thought over what he said.

"M-...Baran. I used to be Baran Flinders, but I'm Mammoth now." He replied slowly.

"I'm Joseph. It's nice to meet you, I hope we can be friends." Joseph said kindly with a smile and a hand outstretched for Mammoth to shake. It was at that point that Mammoth's inner werewolf really decided to come out however.

Mammoth's dirty, smelly tail started wagging excitedly and his ears perked up like a puppy's as he bounced in place.

"You actually want to be my friend? No joke? Really?" Mammoth said as Joseph nodded his head and chuckled. The whole 'handshake' greeting was forgotten as Mammoth easily picked Joseph up in both his arms and squeezed him like a new plush toy, babbling things like 'friend! I have a friend!'.

When Joseph walked out of the cave, Mammoth trailing behind him, Elliot honestly didn't know how to react anymore. At least he knew that his theory behind bringing Joseph was correct. Elliot just gawked at the sight of Mammoth actually smiling in a non predatory way and at some points actually trying to chase around the small sparks of glitter falling away from Joseph's wings like they were laser points.

"Please…?" Joseph said as Elliot gave him a look that obivously said 'no. no we are not taking him. This is a werewolf not an orphan dog'. Elliot, of course, gave in and nodded his head with a deep sigh.

"So where are you guys headed anyways?" Mammoth asked, still half dazed by the entrancing designs on Joseph's wings. Upon explaining, Mammoth actually burst into laughter before whispering to Joseph 'never take directions from a dragon', earning a very offended scoff from Elliot.

"See? If I hadn't have helped, we'd be lost still." Joseph said in a very matter of fact way as the pair followed wherever Mammoth was headed. Elliot rolled his eyes before muttering a quick 'yeah, yeah' at the boy.

Thankfully the trip itself didn't take too long, and the trio hit the clearing before midday. All around the open area of grass was random, very antique looking objects of all shapes and sizes. When Joseph approached one of the many piles, he spotted something glowing a very eerie blue.

Upon further inspection, he grabbed the hilt of a rapier sword stuck in the trash. When he finally managed to yank it out from wherever it was stuck, an eerie eye glowed in the reflection of the shining blade. It seemed to be a spirit of some kind, it's mouth forming and whispering the word 'worthy' before disappearing from sight again. When Joseph looked around, it seemed that neither of the other two boys had seen what had transpired. Joseph finally found the scabbard after shuffling through more trash and placed it on his waist, tucking the blade inside. Joseph smiled before resting a hand on the hilt again - it seemed to almost buzz in his palm. He felt powerful.

"Savior!" Yelled a very loud, obnoxious voice from out of nowhere. When Joseph turned to find it's owner, he jumped back in surprise at the sight of a pale face inches from his own.

"Sorry, I do that sometimes. My name is Punk Rocket! I am the sword's guardian!" Punk Rocket boasted proudly, seemingly to be invisible both sight and hearing wise to the other two boys.

"You are the savior! The sword chose you, and now you can set things right!" Rocket nearly squealed, twisting about in the air and leaving a ghostly mist behind him wherever he went. Upon seeing Joseph's confused face, he obliged with an explanation.

"There's a prophecy about the Isle. The sword of heroes would choose its rightful owner fifty years after the Isle became corrupt, and that owner would be the savior of the Isle! You will slay the demons that lurk inside of every creature's head, you will lead the weak and broken back into glory, and you will once again revive our once beautiful island!" Punk shouted happily. Joseph was unsure about this entire predicament, but before he could even voice his opinion the ever talkative spirit lept right back into his one sided conversation.

"Don't try to play yourself with 'I'm not ready'! Look at what you've done already! You've turned a dragon, the most powerful source of fear and anger, into your guardian! You've managed to make a self depreciating werewolf happy with himself after years of exile! I'll teach you to fight, don't worry. It's not that hard! Oh, wait-" Blabbed Punk, actually managing to lift some of Joseph's spirits (you see what I did there), before interrupting himself.

"Every hero needs a name! What's yours?" Punk questioned, once again getting right in the fairy's personal bubble. After some time and thought, someone else answered for him.

"Jericho." Came the deep voice of Elliot, who smiled warmly before bowing before the island's savior.

"Jericho? Ooh - I like that name! Well Jericho, we are gonna have lots of fun together while I teach you how to save an island!" Punk shouted again, much to joyful over this development for Joseph.

Joseph looked down at where he'd pulled the sword from his scabbard and smiled determinedly. If being a savior meant saving all the broken people that lived on this island, then he'd be glad to occupy the job.

[This chapter is kinda everywhere oops. Also who doesn't love puppy Mammoth right?]


	6. Yamir and Illiet

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. Kinda short and no real dialogue, this chapter is kind of an insight to where the story is going. It has a very fairytale feel to it but without being too cliche. You pronounce Illiet as (Ill - i - et) and Yamir as (Ya - m - ear).]

It took some time for Joseph to get used to the whole 'you are now responsible for the lives of hundreds of people now' thing that came along with being the Isle's savior. It also took Elliot some time to get used to the idea that he couldn't keep shadowing Joseph and shielding him like he was fragile. Punk Rocket had explained the entire process to pair of makeshift heroes, making sure to emphasize how dependent the entire island was on Joey.

Joey trained hard every day with Punk, mastering how exactly to use the rapier sword correctly. Joseph still couldn't wrap his mind around what he was saving everyone from, but at the same time was uneasy about knowing the answer. One day, Punk Rocket just flat out told him, and Joseph finally realized why the entire island was so dark all the time.

A long time ago, there were two gods. The god of chaos, Yamir, and the god of order, Illiet. The god of chaos was always very jealous of his sister Illiet, and because of this started a terrible rivalry between the two. The two selfish gods decided to settle their rivalries using war, they took the lives of innocent human beings and divided them, set them apart, made them hate each other. With the humans not even realizing they were merely peasants in a great war, brother turned on brother, friends became divided and lost, and the once intelligent and superior human race was driven to being even more selfish and greedy than the gods themselves. The gods often played this game, watching the humans suffer for their own foolish quarrels. One day, the gods decided that enough was enough, they'd put the humans through too much. If the humans were to be put through one more war, they would go extinct completely.

Together, Illiet and Yamir found a new land to prosper in. The land was fresh and new, the grass a beautiful mint green and the hills and valleys were painted with colors.

And so, the land was divided in two. The gods split the very Earth in order to claim what they'd taken. The once united circular island was split into two, forming a kind of yin-yang shape.

Illiet nurtured the earth that she claimed, the Mainland. Fish grew and played in the ocean, birds brought good tidings, and the earth was checkered with flowers and fruits of beauty. Yamir claimed his island too, and now he was free to spread darkness and chaos however he pleased. The once beautiful mint grass withered away and left black ashes in their place, the flowers wilted and became poisonous to touch or eat, and the once soft landscape of the island became rough and jagged with demons made from ink and hatred.

And while the two gods finally got what they wanted, it still wasn't enough - nothing was ever enough. While they loved how magnificent their islands were, it was the perfect paradise - they had no one to enjoy it. So the the two siblings came together to make one last creation - life. Illiet was given permission to create life, as long as she followed through with their deal. Flowers bloomed and exploded to give way for the fairfolk and sprites. She created beautiful mermaids to speak and socialize with all of the lonely fish of the ocean, and feathered angels were created to spot the sky and earth with beauty.

And of course, where there was beauty, there was hatred. Illiet was forced to follow up on her agreement with her brother. Illiet was forced to share her most precious gift with the creations, choice. And where Illiet created beauty, Yamir created destruction. Yamir created demons and devils made from shadow and torment that had the ability to hide in plain sight. They could sway Illiet's beautiful land and make the people hateful and empty like himself.

Illiet's fairies and sprites turned into horrible pixies that would turn your greatest wishes into your worst nightmare. Where there were mermaids, Yamir's army of death created sirens and where once beautiful angels roamed, there crept banshees. Illiet and her people were disgusted with the creatures, never even giving them the chance to prove that they could be good despite their appearances. The people of the Mainland cast out these 'monsters' and sent them to the 'Isle of Monsters'. But Illiet did not know that was exactly what Yamir wanted.

With chaos and demons at hand, Yamir caused every once good and hopeful monster on the island to became hateful and violent. Yamir was building an army so that he could once and for all overthrow his dear sister and all her creations. He was planning yet another great war. And this time, it was the monsters and the creatures of Illiet and Yamir that would be sacrificing their lives for the gods' cause.

This was where Joseph was to come in, according to Punk Rocket and his prophecy. Joseph was to build an army of his own. An army of hope and justice, filled with knights and mages and only the noblest of hearts in order to stop Yamir and break the ties between the gods' power and the islander's lives once and for all.

The funny thing was, Elliot was more terrified about Joseph's role than Joseph himself was. Where were they going to build an army? The 'noblest of hearts' lay in Mainland didn't they? The Mainland would never believe them or agree to help them build an army! But as Elliot continued with his worries and regrets, Joseph simply gazed out from the cliff where they sat onto the Isle of Monsters proudly.

Joseph didn't _need_ to build an army, he just needed to convert Yamir's.

[hERE you go, just take it. Like I said, short and no dialogue but it's because I was trying to make it more about the gods than anything.]


	7. Promise Me

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. Just a lil short again? Also I'm a huge sucker for 'we are almost definitely about to die so please promise me you'll live and we can get married' tropes. Oh by the way, if you squint really really hard you can almost catch a tiny glimpse of my very important Punk Rocket ship.]

Joseph was awoken by Elliot softly nudging his shoulder. Joseph tried to ignore him for a bit, still exhausted from all the exertion Punk Rocket had been putting him through. At least he was allowed a bed (which Elliot completely didn't approve of, how on earth was Joseph able to sleep on that thing? It looked so uncomfortable compared to his horde). Elliot's nudging didn't stop until Joseph finally cracked his eyes open a little.

"Elliot…? What is it, it's way too early for-" Joseph began tiredly as he ran a hand through his dandelion hair.

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" Elliot said abruptly with a pleading look in his eyes. He looked as exhausted as Joseph felt. Of course Joseph obliged, beckoning him into the makeshift bed and whispering a very quiet 'c'mere' as Elliot snuggled up to him, holding his back and burying his face into his chest again.

"What's wrong?" Joseph asked quietly, stroking Elliot's ebony hair again. It took a few moments of silence before Elliot finally answered.

"I'm afraid Joseph." Elliot said in a small voice. Joseph didn't have an answer for that, he didn't have any reassuring words or sage advice.

Of course Elliot was scared, Joseph was terrified. This was the last night that they were going to be spending in Elliot's homey cave for a long while. Joseph had finally gotten a grip on swordsmanship, though he still had much to learn, and now the pair had to travel up to some temple deep in the Isle. Joseph had to learn, and he had to build his 'army' as well. Joseph was as terrified as Elliot of the dangerous journey, but he knew that he didn't have much choice in it.

"I'm afraid too Elliot." was all Joseph could really reply. Though his words were nowhere near kind or reassuring, they still made Elliot feel the tiniest bit better. At least he wasn't the only one.

"Joseph, I want to give you something." Elliot said seriously as he reached into his shirt to find something.

"This is what we went up to the clearing for." Elliot continued, holding up a simple golden ring with an amethyst jewel on it. Joseph blinked at it tiredly, still not completely awake.

"It's...It's supposed to be a wedding ring." Elliot said finally as Joseph's eyes widened and his cheeks bloomed red.

"I know we can't...with everything that's going on right now. So for us, it's our promise ring." Elliot said as he slipped the golden trinket onto Joseph's finger before kissing his hand reverently, stopping for a moment before turning his hand over and kissing his wrist as well.

"I promise you, that I will always protect you, no matter the cost." Elliot said in a very serious voice before looking up and staring deep into Joseph's eyes.

"I would die for you Joseph. I would do it. Just please promise me…" Elliot said before looking down and stroking Joseph's hand with his thumb.

"Promise me you'll still be here after all this is over. Promise me you'll still be mine." Elliot said pleadingly as Joseph let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"I promise." Joseph said finally before Elliot sighed in relief and went back to kissing up and down Joseph's wrists. It took only a moment before Joseph used his other hand to bring Elliot's head up to his to properly kiss him. It barely took three seconds for the kiss to become much more heated - but it was heated in a different way.

That one heated kiss was their catalyst for everything they were afraid they might lose the very next day.

When Elliot did finally fall asleep, Joseph didn't dare. Instead he spent all night until daybreak just watching Elliot sadly, trying to memorize every single feature of his face.

Joseph didn't believe in 'god', even if Punk Rocket had told him that he would have to fight one of them. But that night, Joseph prayed harder than he'd ever prayed in his life.

While this was all going on, a quietly whimpering and sobbing Punk Rocket swung his feet back and forth on the top of the cliff, voiding, emotionless tears streaming down his face.

Punk Rocket still remembered warmth. He still remembered what it felt like to hold someone, and to kiss them when they were afraid, and to just be happy with them. He remembered the feeling of long black hair tickling his neck in his sleep, and of arrogant laughter that echoed all around the world when they laughed. He still remembered the sound of screeching motorcycle tires right before the sound of a disastrous car crash. He still remembered the sound of their last breath fading away in his ears.

Punk Rocket still remembered what it felt like to love, and it hurt so bad.

He wasn't going to let Jericho or Kyd Wykkyd hurt, he was going to make sure they lived.

[I'm sORRY that I hurt my trash child but it comes back up later don't worry. Also I put in the wrist kiss thing because in the same way a kiss on the lips means 'I love you', a kiss on the wrist mean 'I worship you' which felt fitting and I don't know why?]


	8. Prophecy

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. hEY so here'd an actually proper length chapter that's only filled with stress hERE.]

The trip to the temple was nowhere near as bad as Elliot and Joseph thought it would be (besides all of Punk Rocket's terrible jokes along the way). Of course, that was only because it was daylight.

The temple itself was huge and broken down. It was obviously once beautiful and filled with grandeur, but years of poor luck with no one to care for it ruined it's once elegant image.

The temple looked so out of place out where they were. The temple laid in a clearing that was once filled with woods. The places that trees used to be were spiked angry ripped stumps that were leaking some black oozing liquid like slugs that made Joseph shudder. The grass was grey and brittle, and everywhere they stepped approaching the temple left a loud crunch like fallen maple leaves.

The inside didn't really make Joseph feel any better. They had to pass a front yard of sorts that was hidden behind two rusty gate doors that opened themselves eerily for Joseph and Elliot. As Joseph walked through the yard he could tell that this was once a place of joy and calm. He saw sculptures that had been crumbled down and looked now like they were bleeding because of the black ooze left from Yamir, and where there used to be a playset looking area Joseph could now only feel icy ghosts.

When Joseph made it to the door of the temple, he closed his eyes and wished desperately that the inside was just a little better. Elliot placed a reassuring hand on Joseph's shoulder, nodding at the door handle where Joseph's hand was frozen.

As the large double doors let out an angry screech and opened at Joseph's strength, he was let down immensely. The inside of the temple was filled with dust and decay, the floor and ceiling were cracked and damaged and the entire house was a dull grey that matched the outside. Joseph didn't know why but he felt...hurt. He felt angry and hurt and he didn't know why.

"Over here! I found it!" Punk Rocket called as he waved his hands around. Right, the reason they were here was to find an original copy of the prophecy, and maybe find at least some guidance as to what they were doing.

"Elliot? You okay?" Joseph said worried as he laid a hand on Elliot's shoulder before catching up to Punk. Elliot hadn't said a word since they got there, and while Elliot was a normally quiet person, this was still a little scary for him.

Elliot looked at Joseph with a great sadness in his eyes that just silently told Joseph, 'no, but now isn't the time to worry about that'.

As Joseph and Elliot finally caught up to Rocket, he noticed that Rocket was nowhere near his normal spunky self either.

"Here it is." Rocket said, presenting a wall littered with inscriptions and symbols. Joseph skipped over the parts he already knew, the Yamir and Illiet part, the whole 'fairy saves the world' part, and just focused on what he needed to do to actually create an army.

 _The Knight of Greed will turn with speed_

 _Become the light in his darkest hours_

 _The Knight of Mourn will learn not to scorn_

 _And become his strongest power_

 _A Witch of Hate and Vengeance will let go of past regrets_

 _She will learn to love and not to covet and pass her final test_

 _A Mage of Sight will blindly follow_

 _No matter how great the demand_

 _The living dead whose blood was shed_

 _Will claim what was once on hand_

 _An army of once known foes alike_

 _Will help the savior with his plan_

 _And at his hour of greatest power_

 _The God will fall at the savior's hand_

When Joseph was done reading the eerie message written on the wall, his head was swimming far too much for him to think properly. Knight of Greed, Knight of Mourn, Witch of Hate...what army is this…? Joseph felt sick with dread, he wanted to puke right there but Elliot quickly caught his now falling body.

Punk Rocket spent the entire night analyzing the angry poem as Elliot tried to keep Joseph from fainting. Joseph felt stupid and weak. How was he going to lead an army into battle when he couldn't keep on his own feet now?

Joseph kept thinking and thinking, but the more he thought about the names in the poem the worst his body's want to faint became. Then he looked up to see Elliot looking distracted and sad again. Joseph reached up slowly from his place laying down where they'd set up a camp of sorts and softly touched Elliot's face, bringing him to look at him.

Elliot looked like he was about to cry, and he probably was, so instead of speaking Elliot took off his shirt to show Joseph the burning symbol that seemed to only just appear in the very middle of his chest. It wasn't the first time Joseph had seen Elliot shirtless (it was a very, very nice sight), but he blushed anyway. Joseph finally realized, the same glowing symbol on Elliot's chest was engraved on almost every wall in the temple - and it hit Joseph.

"This...this was your home, wasn't it?" Joseph said softly, feeling so bad for even making Elliot come here. Elliot nodded solemnly, sighing through his nose for a moment before explaining things to Joseph.

"People aren't afraid of me for the reasons you assume Joseph...sure, being big and mean and scary helps, but what people are most afraid of is someone being different. I wasn't born in the Mainland and exiled here, I was born here, and I've never even set foot on the mainland for more than an hour. My parents were both dragons, and they were also my only friends. Growing up, people hated me. Said I was a spy for Yamir. I wasn't a human, I wasn't a Mainlander, and I wasn't a monster. I was nothing - and I still am. Then, one day Yamir sent his demons after my parents and their home. My mother was the one who wrote the prophecy, and Yamir blamed her for his soon to be downfall. So me, a small two year old, sat and watched helplessly behind a hidden door as my mother and father were murdered before my very eyes. This place...this place just brings back too many memories is all. I'm sorry if my bad mood is rubbing you the wrong way or anything...I'll try to stop." Elliot said as he looked intensely into the fire they'd set. As if maybe if he prayed hard enough, the fire would leap out at him and he could see his parents one last time.

"Don't be sorry Elliot. It's okay that you're upset, I would be too." Joseph said softly, petting Elliot's hand and sitting up to lean his head on Elliot's still bare arm.

"So we're sharing backstories huh? Eh, I'll join in if you promise to keep Lizzie the Lizard King from eating me savior." Punk Rocket said, floating over to where they were and lightening the mood just the tiniest bit. Elliot flinched and snarled at the nickname Rocket had given him as Rocket jumped right into talking.

"Would you guys believe me if I told you I was from the Earth realm?" Rocket said passively, as Elliot glared daggers and Joseph tilted his head.

"Yeah...I...I pissed off the wrong god." Rocket said, his happy-go-lucky mood slowly fading as he too stared into the fire, seeing a much different vision than Elliot.

"Once upon a time, I was in love. I loved a boy named Johnny. He was funny, and kind, and very, very misunderstood by people. When I was with him, I didn't have to worry about everything. Everything was just...okay. I was happy. And then one day, he just...died. He got himself into a bad motorcycle incident and he...he died. And I had to sit there cradling his head while I watched him breathe his last breath. For months after that I was broken and hateful. I obsessed over finding some way to bring him back - and eventually I did. I found a way to cast some satanic looking spell that landed me right in the middle of Yamir's lair. And upon demanding and, well, just being the rude person that I am, Yamir deemed me unworthy of his presence. He waved his hand at me and lightning came out of nowhere and then I was just...dead. I was dead. But the thing was, Yamir made sure to make it so that I died unhappily. He made me a spirit and bonded me with the sword of heroes, while he made Johnny...he made my wonderful Johnny a monster and he cursed us both so that we would always be searching in the wrong places. I'll never see him and again and...and it's his fault." Punk slowly explained, getting gradually angrier and angrier before spatting the word 'Yamir' with disgust and hatred.

"I didn't know my parents at all...They...they left me when I was a newborn. They just...they left me with some random other fairy and I've never seen or heard of them since. I don't even remember what my own mother looks like. And the thing is, I don't care. I feel empty and numb but it's...okay. I've lived my whole life like that. If you can't feel anything but numbness...then you can't feel pain or sadness either." Joseph said solemnly, bowing his head. After a long moment of silence between the trio, Joseph finally spoke up again.

"We're really screwed up, aren't we? ...how...how are we going to lead a revolution?" Joseph asked dryly and rhetorically.

"To be honest with you, I don't know. But we have to try. If...If we don't do this for us, then at least try in the memory of all those ruined at Yamir's hand. For...all those we've lost, and the ones we haven't lost yet." Punk Rocket said determinedly, placing a hand on Joseph's shoulder.

Joseph nodded his head before wrapping his blanket around him even tighter and moving to sit in Elliot's lap, cuddling up to him and falling asleep. Tomorrow was going to be a very big day.

[mORE stressed Joey oops? Also I didn't even try to hide the Punk Rancid in this.]


End file.
